


Life's Not Fair

by CallMeNettie



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 07:37:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15836730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMeNettie/pseuds/CallMeNettie
Summary: Often times I've wondered just what made the Jolly Olly man so cynical, and why he disliked Arnold so much when he went to work for him on that one career day. So I've decided to take a peek into the man's past to see what I'd find in an effort to hopefully understand him a little better.





	Life's Not Fair

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t think it’s ever stated as to just how old the Jolly Olly man is, so I made him the same age as Miles and Stella.

The clock on the wall softly chimes as it strikes the hour. A buzzing sound emits from the phone’s intercom, announcing the doctor’s next patient.

“William is here for his three o’clock appointment Dr. Newman.”

The man looks up from the file he’s been reading and reaches out to hit the speaker button.

“Very good Ms. Walsh, send the boy in.”

The door slowly opens and a young, pre- teen boy, comes sauntering through. He stands with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, giving his head a quick toss, flicking his dark hair out of his eyes.

Pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose, Dr. Newman motions for the boy to sit down.

“Please, William, have a seat.”

Without saying anything, the boy slides down into the chair and sits slumped over, a disinterested look on his face.

Dr. Newman studies the boy for a moment, taking in his demeanor. With the way his arms are crossed in front of his chest, the doctor knows he’s going to be a tough one to get to open up to him. He doesn’t let that deter him though, and offers the boy a warm smile.

“Hello, William, I am Dr. Newman. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better through our weekly sessions. So, I see you are a seventh grader at PS 119. How are you liking middle school?”

William gives the good doctor a shrug of his shoulders while avoiding eye contact and mutters a disgruntled “It’s alright I guess.”

Dr. Newman picks up a paper from William’s file and scans it. “I have a note here that you are having trouble getting along with the rest of the kids. Would you like to talk about it?”

William shifts uncomfortably in his seat and for the first time his eyes meet with Dr. Newman’s. “What’s there to talk about? I go to school with a bunch of losers.”

“So there’s no one there that you would consider a friend?”

William casts his eyes downwards as his right leg nervously bobs up and down. “Well, I guess I do have one friend.”

“Well that’s wonderful. Can you tell me a little bit about him?”

“I don’t know, I guess so. His name is Miles. We’ve been friends since we were kids. We like a lot of the same stuff.”

“That’s nice, what kind of stuff?”

“Well, we play the same video games, and like the same type of music. And travel.” There’s a gleam to William’s eyes now at the mention of travel. “We both want to be world travelers when we’re older. We’ve got plans to go to the same college and become anthropologists and explore far off jungles and stuff. It’ll be way cool, maybe we’ll even discover some long lost tribe that’s been cut off from civilization!”

Dr. Newman gives a nod of his head. “I can see where that would be a pretty cool thing to do. What about your parents? Do they support your desire to travel when you’re older?”

“My mom does, she’s pretty cool, but my dad says it’s stupid. He says it’s my job to take over the family ice cream business when I’m older, but what does he know?”

“So you have no desires to follow in his footsteps I guess.”

“Damn straight, who’d want to spend their life selling ice cream to stupid kids? I hate kids, and ice cream for that matter.”

“You know, to become an anthropologist takes lots of schooling and good grades. How would you say your grades have been so far?”

The gleam in William’s eyes dims as he once again wraps his arms across his chest. “Not so hot, but it’s not my fault.”

“It’s not? If it’s not your fault that your grades are poor, then whose is it?”

“It’s the stupid teachers. They’re just like my dad, they don’t like me and they’re always picking on me. I try, but it’s hard for me. It’s not fair, that’s all. Life’s just not fair.”

xxxxx

William stands at the door to Dr. Newman’s office. He had debated skipping their weekly session but in the end changed his mind. For the last five years Dr. Newman’s office had become a sort of haven for the boy. A place of neutrality where he’s not judged, and his achievements, or lack thereof, are not compared to those of his peers. Taking the doorknob in his hand, he gives it a turn and steps into the office. At the sound of the opening door, Dr. Newman looks up, his usual warm smile on his face.

“Ah, Willie, come on in and have a seat.”

Over the years William had moved from the chair he first sat in, to the leather couch at the other end of the small office. Stretching out on it, he closes his eyes and lets out a long sigh. Dr. Newman is quick to notice the heaviness of that sigh. Somewhere during the last five years the two’s relationship had spanned from doctor/patient to more like friends and it worried him now to see the young man so depressed.

“Rough day?” He asks. 

William gives an empty laugh as he answers. “Heh, that’s putting it mildly.”

“Why don’t you tell me about it.”

“Where do I begin? Final grades came out the other day. I all but failed most of my classes. I just barely made enough points to be able to walk at graduation. Needless to say not one college that I applied to will have me, and I’ll be damned if I waste my time at the Hillwood JC with all the other losers.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a junior college, Willie. You could take a couple of years and get yourself together, then transfer to Hillwood State or someplace comparable.”

“You mean some loser college that will take anyone so long as they’re breathing. No thanks, I’d rather drive one of my father’s ice cream trucks.”

“What about your plans to go exploring with Miles Shortman? Are you just going to give up on them?”

William barks out a laugh. “Ha! I gave up on that dream after my mother died back when I was in tenth grade.” He lowers his voice as he looks off to the distance. “Besides, it was a dumb dream.”

 

“No dreams are dumb, Willie, if you believe enough in them. There’s still time, it can happen.”

“No, it can’t. Miles and I were supposed to graduate together and go to the same college. Then once done we were to travel together as a team. Him and me, like Lewis and Clark, going off to explore and find new lands. Now it will just be him having the adventures while I waste away here, doing my best to stave off frostbite as I serve up ice cream to snotty kids.”

“You almost sound as if you’re jealous of Miles. Are you?”

William sits up, looking Dr. Newman in the eye. “What? No, of course not! I’m not jealous of Miles. He’s my friend. My only friend and I would never begrudge him his happiness.”

The boy lays back down now, his voice once again becoming soft. “You know, I deserve this dream just as much as he does. I tried, I did my best to make good grades. It just doesn’t come as easy for me as it does for Miles. Am I disappointed? Yes, I am, but I’m not jealous. It’s not fair is all. Life’s just not fair.”

xxxxx

It’s raining outside as William takes up his usual spot on Dr. Newman’s couch. Every now and then the small office brightens up as lightning flashes in the sky. There’s a rumble of thunder off in the distance and the young man listens to it as he finishes counting off the seconds between it and the lightning. 

“Wow. That was a quick one, the center of the storm must be pretty close.”

“I guess so.” Dr. Newman agrees. “So, Willie, how have you been faring this past week?”

William gives his usual shrug of his shoulders. “Okay, I guess. I said good-bye to Miles yesterday. He headed out to this small village somewhere in Central America. I believe the name of it was something like San Laredo, or Lorenzo. Something like that.”

“And how did that make you feel, to see Miles moving on like that?”

“I don’t know. I was kind of sad to see him go.” He looks at the doctor. “I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is still no. I’m still not jealous of Miles. Of the two of us he’s just the lucky one. He got the brass ring and not me. It’s just one of those things.”

“So what else has been going on with you?”

A smile comes to William’s face along with a slight blush to his cheeks. “I met a girl.”

“You did? That’s wonderful. How did you two meet?”

“It was after I had said good-bye to Miles. I was at my usual stop in City Park and she came walking up to the truck to buy a Mr. Fudgie bar. I haven’t seen her around before and we started up a conversation. I told her that her ice cream was on the house, sort of as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. She liked that I guess because she ended up giving me her number. We’re going out this Saturday when I get done with work.”

“Well, I’m happy for you. You must be feeling pretty good right about now.”

“Eh, I guess. At least, I was, until my dad tallied up the day’s receipts. When he saw that I was short one lousy Mr. Fudgie bar he went ballistic and started yelling, telling me how stupid I am and that I’ll never amount to anything if I just give away the merchandise. I yelled back and it escalated into this huge ordeal. It totally ruined the good mood I was in.”

“How did it make you feel to have your father belittle you like that?”

“How did it make me feel? It made me feel like shit, that’s how it made me feel. Like I can’t even handle selling a stupid chocolate bar to a customer. I mean, it’s no wonder none of those colleges accepted me. Who’d want a dunce like me at their school?”

“William, you have to quit selling yourself short like that. You are not stupid, not by a long shot. Good things are waiting for you out there, you just have to believe in yourself more.”

“Doc, the only thing waiting for me out there is that truck I drive, and all the stale ice cream that comes with it and you know why? Because that’s the way of the world and it’s not fair is all. Life’s just not fair.”

Xxxxx

He tries to think back to how long it’s been since his last session with Dr. Newman. He estimates that it’s probably been at least a good five years, and is hesitant to step inside the small office. It’s not that things ended on bad terms or anything. He had just reached a point where he didn’t see where therapy was helping anymore, so he just stopped going.

Lately, though, he has felt himself slipping off into an abyss and really needed someone to talk to. So, after taking a deep breath, he steps into the room.

He’s greeted with the usual enthusiasm and his face is filled with a sincere smile as he shakes the doctor’s hand.

“William my boy, so good to see you again. It’s been what, four, five years?”

“Yeah, something like that.” William says as he heads over to the couch.

Dr. Newman follows his friend, taking a seat in his chair that sits in its usual place. “So tell me, what brings you by after all this time?”

There’s so much on William’s mind that he’s not sure where to begin. “Well, for a while life was pretty good. Work wasn’t too bad, I was seeing that girl I had told you about. Heck, every now and then I’d even hear from Miles. I was actually starting to feel good about life, but it was all a lie. It didn’t take long for real life to rear its ugly head back up.”

“Well, why don’t you start with your girlfriend? What happened there?”

“She ended up leaving me, that’s what happened there. She said I was spending too much time worrying about the business, that I wasn’t giving her enough attention. She didn’t understand, though. I HAD to spend all my time worrying about the damn business what with the way my father is always breathing down my back. It’s like he just sits and waits for me to screw up so he can laugh at me and tell me what a joke I am. I don’t blame her for leaving me though. After a while we were miserable. Hell, I didn’t even want to be with me at times. Then one day I came home after a particularly slow selling day and she was gone. She had packed up everything and left without as much as a good-bye. Just an address where her mail could be forwarded to.”

Dr. Newman looks at William with a sympathetic frown. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Yeah, well, I’m better off by myself anyway. No one to have to answer to or worry about but myself.”

“How about everything else? You said you hear from your friend Miles every so often?”

“Well, I did, for a while. He even moved back to Hillwood for about a year.”

“Really? Well that must have been nice.”

“It was, but it didn’t last. You see, he had met this woman on one of his expeditions. They ended up getting married and even had a kid. I didn’t know any of this until the three of them just showed up back in Hillwood one day. It was great to see him, and she was really nice, real easy to get alone with.”

“You say was. Did something happen? Do you not keep in touch with them anymore?”

“No. No one talks to them anymore.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, it’s like this, after they had their kid they decided that the jungle was just too dangerous for a toddler, so they made the decision to move back to Hillwood.”

“You must have been happy to hear that they were coming back.”

William gives a far off smile. “Yeah, I was, and it was great to have the three of them here. Miles and my friendship picked up right where it left off. Honestly, it was as if he never left only now he had a wife and son with him. Every so often he and his wife Stella would drop by the ice cream truck when I was in the neighborhood and by Mr. Fudgies. After a while it became routine that every Saturday at 11:00 in the morning I’d drive down Vine St. and there they’d be, waiting for me. And little Arnold, that’s their son, well, he was just adorable. They’d take their ice cream and eat it as they walked to City Park to meet up with the other new parents. By the time I made it to the park all the neighborhood kids would be playing as the parents chatted while they watched them.”

“That sound’s lovely. What happened to change things?”

William’s eyes become clouded, his chest heaving with deep breaths as he recalls what eventually happened.

“It was right around their son’s first birthday. They were planning this big party for all the neighborhood kids and their parents.”

He stops for a moment, to reflect on the story and there’s a catch to his breath when he starts up again.

“Before they left the jungle to come back home to Hillwood, they were working on finding a cure for some sort of sleeping sickness that was running rampant through this small, remote village. They thought they had it under control when they left. They must have, otherwise they never would have left those people to their fate. Anyway, like I was saying, a couple of days before their son’s birthday they received a visit from one of their friends from back in San Lorenzo. He said the sleeping sickness had come back with a vengeance and the people were desperate for help. Well, knowing Miles and Stella, they just couldn’t sit back and let a whole village get annihilated, so they made the decision to make one last trip to Central America. They swore they’d only be gone a week tops.”

“So they packed up their small child and went back to the jungle?”

“No, they left the boy with their grandparents and went by themselves. I remember the day before they left, Miles stopped by my truck to tell me he was leaving. We talked for hours. I remember how pissed my dad was at the low receipts for that day but I didn’t care. I remember how torn Miles was between leaving his son and going to help that village. I think it was the hardest decision he’s ever had to make. We must have gone through a dozen Mr. Fudgies between the two of us as we talked. Finally, after about the fifth phone call from his wife asking when he was coming home, we said our good-byes.”

William turns towards Dr. Newman, his eyes show the pain the memory brings him. The tears well up until the first one breaches the brim and trails down his brown cheek. “You see, Doc, I didn’t know. I didn’t know that the last time I said good-bye, would be THE last time we’d say good-bye. If I had only known, I’d have had so much more to say to him.”

Dr. Newman leans forward, placing a hand on William’s shoulder. “William, you had no way of knowing, no one did. It’s just one of those things that happens in life.”

William’s eyes narrow as he speaks through gritted teeth. “I keep thinking about that young boy, losing both his parents at such a young age like that. To have to grow up without a mother and a father. It’s not fair, Doc, life’s just not fair!”

xxxxx

Time has moved on for the residents of Hillwood. It took a while for everyone to get over the shock of losing two well-loved members of the community, but as they say, that’s life. William has never really gotten over the permanent loss of his best friend, but he has learned to ignore the stabbing pain in his heart and go on. Carrying around such a bitter pill, though, has made him even more cynical than he already was. It also didn’t help that, every time he looked into Arnold’s eyes, he saw Miles staring back.

He enters Dr. Newman’s office again after another of his long absences. He notices how old the good doctor has become and he feels a bit of his heart chip away at the thought of someday losing what has, over the years, become a true friend. 

After saying their hellos, William takes his spot on the couch. He notices how worn the leather has become and that here and there bits of stuffing peek out of the small cracks that dot the edges of the cushions. He takes a deep breath in, letting the smells of the office fill him. It’s the scent of memories both good and bad, the aroma of his childhood as it slowly melted away, leaving him the man he has become today. He knows his days with the good doctor are most likely numbered before the man heads into retirement, which, in reality, is just the last stop on the road to the great beyond. 

He pushes those thoughts aside for now and the two friends spend a few moments catching up before William lets out what’s really on his mind.

“It was career day at PS 118 today. All the fourth graders got paired up with people in the community to shadow them to supposedly get a glimpse of what real life is like, and you’ll never guess who I got paired up with.”

“Honestly, I really have no clue. Who was it?”

“It was Arnold Shortman, Miles’ son.”

“Well, that is a coincidence, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I’ll say. Of all the kids, I get Arnold. It was hard for me to work with him at first. Every time I’d look at his face I’d see Miles. I guess I was pretty hard on the kid, but I couldn’t help it. I just couldn’t bring myself to be around him at first. I made the poor kid ride in the back of the truck, cleaning out the freezer as I drove. I wouldn’t even let him stand at the window to serve the other kids. It just brought him too close for comfort.”

“That must have made for a long day.”

“You can say that again. It didn’t last, though. Finally, by the end of the day, I got used to him and it got easier for me to talk to him. He’s really a pretty good kid. I see a lot of his father in him. He’s smart, too. It was turning out to be a very slow day, and my dad was riding me pretty hard. But Arnold came up with a solution to sell more ice cream, and it actually worked. My dad was just waiting for me to fail, but with Arnold’s help I showed him! It killed him that I actually sold out for the day and made a profit. It was a day I’ll remember for a long time.”

“I’m glad it all worked out for you. So then you were able to mend things between you and the boy?”

“Yeah, it ended on a good note. I even gave him an A on his grade sheet. Yep, he’s a good kid. I’ve noticed him here and there around town while on my route. He’s just like his parents, always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. I think he’s even got a little girlfriend. Well, I’m not 100% sure if he’s aware of her, but there’s this little girl that’s constantly following him around. She thinks no one notices, but I see her, and I see the way she looks at him. It’s just too bad that Miles and Stella will never know what a fine son they have. It’s not fair I tell ya, life’s just not fair.”

xxxxx

It was a good sized turnout at the cemetery on the day of Dr. Newman’s funeral. He had touched many lives over the span of his career and most of those people made sure to show up to pay their last respects to the man. William stood at the back of those in attendance, his hands clasped behind his back as he listened to the preacher go through his spiel. Once he was done it took a while for the crowd to disperse but William just stood and waited. He waited for the workers to come and do their job in filling in the deep hole with dirt. It wasn’t until the last worker left that he finally made his way towards the grave. He sat down next to the freshly mounded dirt, picking some up in his hand. He watched as the dirt slipped through his fingers, returning back to the ground. He sat in the quiet cemetery, listening to the birds that flitted through the branches of the nearby trees. He smiles as he remembers the man who came to mean so much to him and finally begins what he thinks of as their final session.

“Hey, Doc, I’m sorry that I once again let so much time slip by between sessions. Life just sort of got busy and I guess I just never found the time to stop by. A lot has happened over these past years, and for once I guess I have to say that life’s been pretty good. I met another woman, and this time I learned from my past and didn’t mess things up. We actually got married and had a kid. I have a son. Me, a father. Can you believe that? We named him Miles, after my best friend and he’s just like his mother, sweet and loving. He’s always got a huge smile on his face. I know he came pretty late in life, but I made a promise to him the day he was born that I would never treat him like my dad treated me and I mean it. 

“Speaking of my dad, unfortunately he passed away before Miles was born so he never got to see his grandson. Not that I think he would have cared if he had. But I’ve decided not to dwell on that. I’ve spent enough of my life angry at that man. I think it’s finally time to let go. He left the business to me which surprised me. I always figured he’d leave the money to some stranger just to piss me off. I ended up selling the trucks and putting the money towards buying out Slausen’s when the original owners retired and put it up for sale. Best decision I ever made.

“I’ve kept tabs on Miles’s son, Arnold over the years. We became friends after that day that he worked for me and I can’t help but think that he’s part of the reason for the change in how I now look at life. He taught me to always look on the bright side of things and you know what? It works. I started looking for the good in situations instead of the bad and I swear that because of it my life is better now.

“Remember that little girl that I told you about? You know, the one that always followed Arnold around thinking no one saw her? Well, I guess she started looking at the bright side of things too because the two are married now. They even have a son of their own. He’s in the fourth grade, the same age Arnold was when he worked for me. 

“You know, all in all I have to say that even after everything that’s happed to me in my past, things have a way of working out. It’s not that life’s unfair, I think you just have to wait for it to be your time. Yes, I think that I can finally say that life is pretty fair after all.”

The End

**Author's Note:**

> In regards to the part of this story where William says " I didn’t know that the last time I said good-bye, would be THE last time we’d say good-bye.” I wish I had come up with that line myself, but unfortunately I didn’t. I believe it’s from an old MLP episode. I just wanted to state that fact in case someone out there recognized it. Gotta give credit where credit is due, right?
> 
> I hope you liked this little look into the life of the Jolly Olly Man and find it to be fitting of his personality and a good explanation as to why he was portrayed as he was in the show. I’d love to hear what you think.


End file.
